Have you found yourself asking, Am I
the only rational person
in my city? I know I’m not the
only one, but sometimes it feels like it.

Being passionate about something is
good. Being venomous about it is not so good.

It seems these days that a lot of
rational, gentle friends of ours are quiet folk. Sure, they might
raise their hands and ask great questions, or they might organize a
little canvassing or a protest. But in general, the level-headed
people are trying to just go along to get along.

This isn’t so with the frothy ones that
are angry. They blame others, they blame the system, they blame the
heavens, they blame sometimes those who are closest. And they are
loud! It seems that they think that as they raise their voices—and
maybe even weapons—their lies become somehow more true.

I’m avoiding specifics on purpose. But
the specifics are right now coming to mind. You know who in your life
I’m referring to. Perhaps it’s a family member. A spouse. A
co-worker. A neighbor or two. Some stranger in a parking lot of
grocery store. They are venomous. And loud. And wrong.

And they seem to multiply; the vocal
minority. Also, they seem to be everywhere online. You might read 20
comments on a Facebook stream, but that one
asshole stands out and you chew on their dumb words all week.

Eventually, it seems all of the internet—or even your city or country—is full of these loud dummies.

Am I the only rational person in the
world?

I know
how you feel. But I also know how you feel when you think to
yourself, There has got
to be more people out there who want sane conversations!

And
there are. Very few want mindless, unfounded silliness of chatter.
So, here’s the opportunity.

Others
are looking for calm, reasonable people in their midst.

Be that person! Be the calmness in their lives. Be the collected person in a place of rowdiness. You stand out as it is, and possibly it’s why you’re sometimes verbally attacked. The Tasmanian devils in your family, workplace, or town are perhaps even jealous that you have a calm demeanor about you. Let them learn something from you. Be an example.

Not
everything is falling apart. Not everything is hopeless. Not
everything is ending.

There are some of us that are content and strong. And we don’t have to venomous about life’s occurrences. But we can be passionately viral in our centered-ness.

I dare you to take the lead in your circles to be loud with your silent peacefulness.